(Yicai) July 8 -- Shanghai accounted for 68 award-winning achievements and individuals in China's latest State Science and Technology Awards, the country's highest state honors for achievements in science, engineering, and technological innovation, representing a quarter of the national total and marking a record high.

The city led 29 of the winning projects in the 2025 awards, equal to 11 percent of all award-winning projects nationwide and the highest proportion on record, according to the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality. The eastern city has contributed more than 10 percent of the national total for 21 consecutive years.

China announced the winners of the 2025 National Science and Technology Awards in Beijing today. A total of 258 projects and 11 scientists received awards, including 51 State Natural Science Awards, 58 State Technological Invention Awards, and 149 State Science and Technology Progress Awards, according to Xinhua News Agency.

Shanghai is expected to continue strengthening its position as one of China's leading innovation hubs through sustained investment in basic research, technological innovation, and international scientific cooperation.

Among the projects involving Shanghai, two jointly completed projects won the Special Prize of the State Science and Technology Progress Awards.

Basic research remained a strong area for Shanghai this year. Four Shanghai-led projects received the second prize of the State Natural Science Awards, with two from Fudan University and two from the Shanghai branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The projects span mathematics, chemistry, biology, and materials science.

China also presented the International Science and Technology Cooperation Award of the People's Republic of China to three foreign scientists.

Among them, Professor Elsa Reichmanis, a member of the US National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Inventors, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, has maintained long-term scientific cooperation with China through partnerships with Donghua University, the CAS, Peking University, and other institutions.

Moreover, Professor René Bernards, an internationally renowned oncologist, has collaborated with Renji Hospital, affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, on precision treatment research for liver cancer.

Finally, Professor Otto Heinrich Herzog, a leading artificial intelligence scientist, has worked with Tongji University on research exploring the application of AI to urban planning.

Editor: Emmi Laine